Sounds of Silence
by the-hiraeth-cryptid
Summary: With the earth being plagued by mindless, decaying creatures with an insatiable desire for flesh, the human race is unfortunately put back on the food chain. People should have listened to the warnings, all voiced in differing ways—but they didn't and now… the rest is silence. (SYOC OPEN!)


**00**

**Prelude**

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**| Ten Days Before Z-Day |**

**[11:58 p.m.]**

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Run. That was all he could do. Down the corridor he sprinted, his footsteps beating against the white linoleum floors—Hye not far behind, terrified. Much like he was if truth be told. He was just too terrified to show his fears outwardly, having composed himself, though it was of little importance right now. Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting out of the death trap disguised as a white labyrinth.

His head pounded, heart-rate accelerating dangerously, but he dared not stop, rounding a corner, then another. Somewhere in his mind, he kept track of his movements, trying to remember which halls lead to the way out and just cursing himself—and his brother, Isaac.

Left, then right. Left again, then down a long corridor. Right. Left. Two rights. Another long corridor. Faintly, he wondered if he was going in the right direction. Hye was sobbing, shaking, but the unimpressive-built assistant managed to stay with him. Groans echoed within the halls, sounds of feet shuffling seemingly coming from all directions.

When the lights overhead went out, all at once, Hye yelped, clearly frightened. He was less vocal, but he too was frightened as the white corridors became completely shrouded in darkness. He couldn't see anything past his nose.

_Fuck. Shit. Fuck._

Barking an order, he and Hye slowed but still kept on the move, sticking close to the walls. If they stopped, they died. He _knew _that would be the case. Thankfully, though, they were not left wandering in the dark for long as several scattered red-lights begun to gleam, filling the corridors with both light—partially, anyway—and a red filter.

Initially, he was filled with dread, the red lighting feeling absolutely sinister given the situation, but red light was better than no light at all. He was just thankful that the alarms were functional.

On and on he ran, his heart ready to explode. With great, sucking heaves of breath, he tried to get oxygen in his lungs, but he knew that he couldn't go on like this for much longer. His body would not allow such a thing, for it was screaming, _begging_ him to stop. Briefly, he debated if it would just be easier to turn and fight, get it over with.

In the end, he shook his head. No. No, he won't. If anything, the scream of exhaustion from his body caused him to flee even faster than before. Hye must've taken notice of his sudden increase in speed, if the man's panicked gasps and sobs were anything to go by. He, however, refused to slow down or look back, knowing very well that every second counted.

He rounded the next corner, skidding to a halt with his sneakers squeaking harshly against the floors. Wide-eyed and panting uncontrollably, he stared at the sight in front of him; ignoring the fiery pains that were occurring in his chest.

Figures were up ahead, right where the stairs he had used to come into the underground laboratory. Three, in fact, of all varying ages. Despite the appearances, though, he knew what stood before him were not humans, but rather gray-skinned beasts with gaping mouths and horrible, blank eyes. Beasts that each let out a guttural moan, stumbling like drunkards in the corridor—toward him.

He held his breath, not daring to make the slightest sound. Hye, in his haste to not be left behind, slammed into him, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Wha—" the words died in Hye's throat, and even with his glasses partially knocked off, he saw the creatures, too. It took only a second for the man to shriek, hyperventilating at the presence of the monstrosities that stood in the way of their exit.

With an ugly bellow sounding, he fought back his fear as he watched one—seemingly a teenaged female that likely was no older than himself—start to pick up its pace, though only succeeding in an uneven gait due to one of its legs bent at an awkward angle; bits of bone protruding at the knee. It dragged itself, lifeless orbs cross-eyed and a milky white coloration. It had chunks missing from the side of what presumingly was a dainty neck, and then there was the fact that despite there wasn't much light, he could sort of see innards _hanging _from its stomach.

He was unfazed, for the most part, but he knew Hye could sort of see them, too, and the man in question wasted absolutely no time in emptying out his stomach's contents right then and there.

_Gotta find another way,_ he thought. Frantically, he turned, legs itching to bolt, but he only saw more gray-skinned figures, slowly but surely coming up from behind. He could even recognize some of them—ones that he and Hye were originally fleeing from.

With a sickly feeling, he swallowed. After all that effort, here he was, surrounded by things he once thought were fictional.

It was over.

And he couldn't help it.

It was a split-second decision, really. His head pounding, he bolted for the stairs, running straight toward the female creature. When he drew closer, he wanted nothing more than to puke as a vile stench begun to invade his senses, choking him. Death, thick and sour.

The female retracted just an inch, stopped moving, as if utterly shocked at his boldness. Taking heart at what he assumed was a slight falter, he charged. It then sprang to life, limbs sprawled out riotously; ready to collide head-on. He nearly stopped, but he kept running, not allowing his courage—of insanity, he guessed—to wash away.

At the last second before collision, just as he got a close look at outstretched, clawed hands and smelly, decaying flesh, he planted his left foot and dove to the right. Unable to stop its momentum, the monstrosity zoomed straight past him.

Taking a much-needed breath, he bolted again as the female swirled, growling. He barely dodged the remainder, but luckily one of the two creatures was vastly uncoordinated, tripping on its own feet and knocking its 'friend' to the floor. It allowed him the opportunity to rush past them, relatively unscathed. Groans turned into roars, so close that he felt the cold in his ears, but he ignored the sounds, ascending the stairs two steps at a time.

And, suddenly, there was a strangled scream.

Every instinct screamed at him _don't look back_, but he did.

Just in time to see a child, with half of its face _chewed_ _off_, sink its jaws into the meaty part of Hye's shoulder, tearing away a bloody chunk. Another clasped clammy hands around his waist, then another, then another. Others stopped, smelling fresh blood. Tearing through leather, then cloth, then skin, spilling shiny organs into the open air.

He couldn't even begin to describe the smells as Hye's blood poured from him. His skin was pure snow as his body slackened, emptying in a sickly rush. He could still see his face. Hye was terrified.

Suddenly, he was aware that the metal doors up the stairs were closing.

Suddenly, he could hear the sounds of what seemed to be the laboratory going into lockdown.

Suddenly, he turned his back, turned away from the terrified, pleading eyes of Hye.

He ran through the closing doors, sure that he was pushing his body beyond its physical limits. And kept running.

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**A/N: if two dudes were on the moon and one killed the other wi—**

***Huh? Oh . . . ****Wait. There's—Hey. Hey, you. Yeah, you that's readin' this. Wassup. Didn't think you'd make it this far. So, uh. Hello. How's the wife and kids? Great? Fantastic? ****. . . Oh. Oh. She broke up with you, huh? Took the kids and everything? ****Wow . . . Uh-huh . . . That's rough, buddy. Real rough.**

***Anyway. You may be confused. I am aware that this is, well, short, and a little abrupt, too. Honestly, it was the best I could come up with, as I'm quite horrible with first chapters and the like. I _do_ think this snippet tells you a lot. O****r nothing at all. Depends on your perspective, I guess. ****But, well, you haven't left yet, even after reading all of this nonsense (or maybe you didn't—ya skipper), so that means you're interested in this SYOC. Somewhat, at least, yeah? For those wantin' to submit, the info, the rules, and the form is located on my profile. **

***. . .**

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***Whatcha still doin' here? Reading this? Go on, lil' buddy. Or big buddy. Whichever you prefer. Click that pen-name. ****I'll be here while you do. Waitin'. Watchin'. I guess. **


End file.
